marteney1 Posted December 9, 2022 Share #1  Posted December 9, 2022 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hello all, I just picked up an R5 that seems to have an issue with the shutter and was hoping one or more of you could help with a potential fix. When winding, the film reel will advance (can repeatedly wind without pressing the shutter release), but the shutter button does not do anything. I took the bottom plate off to see how things were moving (only minimal previous camera repair experience, but have been tinkering and working on all manner of things my whole life). I seem to have located the problem. In the 1st picture, the peg at 2 o'clock from the winding wheel (blue circle) has a very small spring around it. When moving the winding lever, in this orientation, the winding wheel rotates clockwise and the part circled in red moves to the left (2nd picture). This should stay to the left, but it doesn't unless I push it very very slightly further left with my finger or a tool, with the winding lever turned as far as it will go. This allows the shutter to remain cocked and then the shutter button will fire the shutter as it should. Further attempts at winding just keep turning the reel but not fully cocking the camera. Now, for that little spring. It appears to need to pull the tab at 1 o'clock from the winding wheel toward the peg (tangentially to the rotational movement of the winding wheel). When I wind the lever as far as it will go, and pull that little tab toward the peg, the part circled in red stays cocked to the left and the shutter will fire. That spring is not currently in the correct orientation. When I was troubleshooting it, the spring came off that peg, and I'm not sure what orientation it needs to be in to work like it should. I am hoping one of you will be willing to take the bottom plate off your Leica R5 and take a close up picture of that area of the mechanism so I can see what the proper orientation is for the spring to function correctly. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. I'm sure a lot of you will say the standard "send to a service center for repair and CLA," and yes, that's an option I'm looking into but wanted to try this first. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/354142-r5-shutter-issue/?do=findComment&comment=4593385'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 9, 2022 Posted December 9, 2022 Hi marteney1, Take a look here R5 Shutter Issue. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
jaapv Posted December 9, 2022 Share #2  Posted December 9, 2022 47 minutes ago, marteney1 said: I'm sure a lot of you will say the standard "send to a service center for repair and CLA," and yes, that's an option I'm looking into but wanted to try this first. We won't; these cameras are virtually irreparable due to lack of any spare parts and thus lack of repair services. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted December 9, 2022 Share #3 Â Posted December 9, 2022 It may take me a couple of days to be able to get to it, but I'll see if I can get you a photo of the spring orientation on my R5. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted December 9, 2022 Share #4  Posted December 9, 2022 I hope you’re able to fix it yourself. It does not sound too difficult. If it is just a matter of repositioning a spring and not a real repair DAG might be able to help. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagner Posted December 9, 2022 Share #5  Posted December 9, 2022 Maybe have a look in the Minolta XD Service Manual. The wind up/shutter mechanism of these cameras is the same.    Minolta-XD-XD7-XD11-Service.pdf (learncamerarepair.com) Minolta XD-7 (XD11 IN USA) Repair Manual | PDF | Aperture | Shutter Speed (scribd.com) Good luck! Torsten 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marteney1 Posted January 8, 2023 Author Share #6  Posted January 8, 2023 @hepcat Any chance you've been able to take off the bottom plate off the R5 to see the orientation of that spring yet? Hope you had a happy holiday season! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted January 8, 2023 Share #7  Posted January 8, 2023 Advertisement (gone after registration) 18 minutes ago, marteney1 said: @hepcat Any chance you've been able to take off the bottom plate off the R5 to see the orientation of that spring yet? Hope you had a happy holiday season! I am so sorry... Shortly after this thread started, I had a death in my immediate family that involved not only making the arrangements, but cleaning out an apartment; then we had a week of blizzard conditions, my youngest son had surgery in Des Moines for which we had to be there for a few days, and then both of us have fallen ill with some ill-defined creepin' crud, from which neither of us have fully recovered. Tomorrow, I'm off on a business trip for three days. I will see if I can get that bottom plate off and get a couple of photos for you upon my return, perhaps Thursday-ish. Again, my apologies.  It has been a MOST inauspicious end to 2022 and beginning to 2023. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marteney1 Posted January 8, 2023 Author Share #8 Â Posted January 8, 2023 Sorry for your rough go lately. No worries, I have no delusions that my camera repair aspirations are any kind of priority for you, just had a bit to fiddle with it and thought I'd check in. Thanks again. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted January 12, 2023 Share #9  Posted January 12, 2023 Sorry it took me so long. Here is the R5 in the un-tensioned position. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/354142-r5-shutter-issue/?do=findComment&comment=4639507'>More sharing options...
hepcat Posted January 12, 2023 Share #10  Posted January 12, 2023 And this one is with the shutter tensioned. Note that the washer fell off the drive coupler. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/354142-r5-shutter-issue/?do=findComment&comment=4639513'>More sharing options...
marteney1 Posted January 13, 2023 Author Share #11 Â Posted January 13, 2023 Awesome, that's exactly what I needed. I'll poke around at it tomorrow and update. Gracias again. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marteney1 Posted January 20, 2023 Author Share #12  Posted January 20, 2023 To close the loop, I was able to fix it! It wasn't the spring, it was oriented correctly when I put it back together but the longer leg was bent slightly. I took it out and straightened it which didn't fix the issue. Looking again at the problem, being that the part circled in red in my original post (and below) wasn't being pushed far enough inboard (medially/to the left in the photos) to stay charged, I looked at the arm pushing on it and saw a small tab, circled in yellow here. I was able to bend it slightly to make it push the part far enough to stay charged, and now it appears to work. Putting batteries in, it appears that all shutter speeds work appropriately to the ear. Now I've just got to source a reasonably priced lens! If anyone has a lead on one, or has one they're willing to part with, shoot me a message.   Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 1 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/354142-r5-shutter-issue/?do=findComment&comment=4651693'>More sharing options...
adan Posted January 20, 2023 Share #13  Posted January 20, 2023 Excellent mechanical aptitude! I love bending the part - did the same thing to get a Canon FX SLR frame counter working again 52 years ago. Basically, the frame counter disk with the numbers on it was mounted on a toothed ratchet wheel (like a tiny circular-saw blade) concentric with the main film advance spool. When the film was advanced and shutter cocked, an L-shaped bell crank was supposed to push on each tooth in sequence, such that the wheel and number-disk advanced one notch, and caught a pawl that held it in the new position against spring pressure (the spring that would ziiiiip the counter back to -2 when the back was opened to remove film). Dropping the camera on the rear top corner behind the wind lever (but that's another story) had separated the crank and ratchet disk by an additional fraction of a mm. As with your shutter-cocking levers, the bellcrank would push the disk teeth, but not quite far enough to lock at the next number, so it would slip back, and thus stayed permanently at frame -2. After figuring this out, I bent the L (opened the angle to slightly greater than 90° \_ ) and bingo - now it pushed the wheel far enough to lock as it was supposed to.  Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted January 21, 2023 Share #14  Posted January 21, 2023 19 hours ago, marteney1 said: To close the loop, I was able to fix it! Now I've just got to source a reasonably priced lens! If anyone has a lead on one, or has one they're willing to part with, shoot me a message.  Well done!!! Congrats! Define "reasonably priced." This IS a Leica forum, after all. It seems that MY definition of "reasonably priced" seems to be at odds with the Leica universe. Ha ha! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marteney1 Posted January 22, 2023 Author Share #15  Posted January 22, 2023 12 hours ago, hepcat said: Well done!!! Congrats! Define "reasonably priced." This IS a Leica forum, after all. It seems that MY definition of "reasonably priced" seems to be at odds with the Leica universe. Ha ha! No joke. I've been eyeballing fleaBay since I picked this body up, and R-mount lenses in the focal lengths I'm interested in shooting seem to be the ones everyone else is interested in as well. Guess I'll have to set an alert and just wait. Thanks again for the help. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted January 22, 2023 Share #16  Posted January 22, 2023 14 hours ago, marteney1 said: No joke. I've been eyeballing fleaBay since I picked this body up, and R-mount lenses in the focal lengths I'm interested in shooting seem to be the ones everyone else is interested in as well. Guess I'll have to set an alert and just wait. Thanks again for the help. Mirrorless guys (like me, although I have three Leicaflex and two R bodies) with my Lumix S1 and S5 have driven the prices up dramatically; particularly for filmmaking. Back in the days before mirrorless and the renaissance of film, the R lenses were practically at give-away prices because they could only be used practically on Leicaflex flim bodies, and those were dinosaurs. The current prices are astonishing; not to the level of M lenses... yet... but three or four times what the same focal length in a Konica Hexanon brings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marteney1 Posted February 22, 2023 Author Share #17  Posted February 22, 2023 Was able to pick up a 35-70/3.5 and put a roll of film through it. Works great. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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